Do you pay for London buses?

London buses are card only, so you cannot buy a ticket with cash. Use a Visitor Oyster card*, an Oyster card, a Travelcard or a contactless payment card to pay your fare. Unlike the Tube zone fare system, a single London bus journey costs £1.75 no matter how far you go.



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Touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end on yellow card readers using contactless (card or device). Only touch in on buses and trams. Find out more about touching in and out. You can pay for someone else's travel with your contactless card or device if they're travelling with you.

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Children aged under five can travel free at any time on all TfL services (buses, Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL Rail) as long as they are accompanied by an adult with a validated Oyster/contactless card or a valid ticket. No child ticket is required.

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In summary, this change would see bus and tram single fares to increase by 10p to £1.75, and the daily bus and tram cap raised to £5.25. The Bus & Tram Pass season price is increased to £24.70 for a 7 Day ticket. The free Hopper transfer within one hour will remain unchanged.

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Pay as you go You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance. You can pay as you go using contactless (card or device), an Oyster card or a Visitor Oyster card. It also offers great value as pay as you go is cheaper than buying single tickets and you get daily and weekly capping.

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London buses are all cashless, so you need an Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment card to ride. Bus fare is £1.75, and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £5.25. You can transfer to other buses or trams for free an unlimited number of times within one hour of touching in for your first journey.

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If you don't touch in and out, we can't tell where you've travelled from or to, so your journey will be incomplete. Maximum fares don't count towards capping. If you don't touch in, you may be charged a penalty fare.

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London buses are all cashless, so you need an Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment card to ride. Bus fare is £1.75, and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £5.25. You can transfer to other buses or trams for free an unlimited number of times within one hour of touching in for your first journey.

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You do not need to tap out on London buses or trams, as it is a fixed fare. If you try, the system will either just ignore it (The correct response) or charge you another fare.

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The cheapest ways to get around London include walking, getting an Oyster card, avoiding travel at peak hours, cycling, taking the bus for long-distance, cruising the Thames Clipper, and taking the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

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Is it cheaper to use Oyster or contactless? As both cards use the same Pay As You Go system and are compatible with the TfL Oyster & Contactless app, the costs are comparable. As a tourist in London, it can be worth getting an Oyster Card as part of the London Pass.

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Visitor Oyster cards, Oyster cards and contactless payment cards are the cheapest way to travel in London. To use an Oyster card, touch the card on the yellow reader at the gates as you enter and end your journey. You don't need to touch out at the end of your journey on buses and trams.

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Buses are also cheaper than trains, with a flat fare of £1.65 per single journey. You can take two bus journeys for the price of one if you touch in using the same card on the second journey within an hour, thanks to the “Hopper Fare”.

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You can use Apple Pay to pay as you go across all Transport for London services, including the Underground, buses and trams. Paying for journeys is easy using Apple Pay and works the same as using a contactless card. You just need to touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end on yellow card readers.

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